Hi, I put a GV unit on my 1973 Satellite over this past winter, and just wanted to share my thoughts and experiences with this for anyone who cares to read this. My car is a 73 Satellite, oringinal 318. It has been bored .020 over, has 9:1 comp flat top pistons, edelbrock .420/.420 RV CAM , Performer intake, Mopar "302" casting closed chamber heads with 1.88 intake/ 1.50 exhaust valves , no porting or polishing, but heat crossover block. I'm running EDELBROCK AVS THUNDER 650cfm with AEM o2 gauge to keep it tuned. I use it primarily to cruise back roads and would like to do a road trip with it. It originally had open 8.25 with 2.71 gears. I liked cruising but hated take off. I rebuilt 8.25 with factory trac lok and 3.21 gears. Then added GV UNIT for 2.5 final drive ratio with 245/60/15 at all four corners. I did install myself. On a 73-74 b body, the factory mounted the torsion bars differently than the 71-72, using a long crossover bar mounted to unibody by bolts behind the transmission crossmember. I took this off, along with the torsion bars, to do the install. After putting on the GV tail shaft , I mounted the GV unit to the tail shaft, then put transmission cross member back in, followed by the torsion bar mount. Install went smooth, IMHO. I called gear vendors for gear choice selection, and they suggested the 3.21, which they stated would give me an improvement on either end. I agree, but I could have went 3.55 because, to use the GV effectively, steeper gears are to your advantage. As for my 318 pulling the car along in O/D mode, torque is not a problem. Anyone who paid attention to my build specs probably noticed it's more of a truck engine. I have no figures on gas mileage , but peace of mind is worth it! Try taking O/D off your daily driver and let me know how long you last! The car doesn't shift as I anticipated, though. I had imagined 1-2-3 then o/d. Instead, its 1-2-2over-3over. That's if left in auto mode. I can shift it differently, but auto mode is just cool. I'm getting a slight vibration from drivetrain, and I need to let the transmission down a bit to equalize the u joint angles, but, overall, I'm happy with the unit!

moparite wrote:Why did you go with GV when you could have put a A500 on it?

I thought of an a500 or a518. I wanted to handle the install myself. Because of it being a 1973, and the torsion bar mount, and the fact I'm not a very good welder/ fabricator, I decided to go with the G/V unit. The .69 O/D ratio in the Mopar over drives had my attention though. I was unsure of having to butcher the floor pan and torsion mounts, and decided in the end to stay away from it. Cost wise, if I could have rebuilt my own Mopar overdrive, the a500/518 might have been cheaper. However, I think it was close cost wise because I couldn't rebuild my transmission and waould have had to buy a built a500/518. My 904 was already newly built. I'm happy with the overall cruising. I forgot to mention my kick down linkage is spot on, making for a crisp shifting transmission, which further augments the gear vendors 2nd over feature. I think that is one of my favorite features of the gear vendors unit.

Midnight_Rider wrote:Hugh, thanks for taking the time to post up your experience w- the GV.

Thanks for reading it! I hope I helped you or anyone who reads this post make a decision if they ever thought of getting a gear vendors unit. I like wrenching my own cars, hate it when someone else is touching them. That's good and bad I guess, because sometimes I'm limited by my own abilities.

Midnight_Rider wrote:Hugh, thanks for taking the time to post up your experience w- the GV.

Thanks for reading it! I hope I helped you or anyone who reads this post make a decision if they ever thought of getting a gear vendors unit.

TBH, the potential vibration issue you mentioned in your original post is what scared me off of the GV. Before you lower the transmission/change the driveline angle, you might want to take a look through this thread:http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index ... 3.100.html

That should put you on the right page where the OP found a way to 90% reduce his GV vibration. Reply # 108.

Basically, he had to methodically figure out where/how much to 'unbalance' his driveshaft to alleviate the issue... wish you luck with yours. Please let us know if you figure it out?

Midnight_Rider wrote:Hugh, thanks for taking the time to post up your experience w- the GV.

Thanks for reading it! I hope I helped you or anyone who reads this post make a decision if they ever thought of getting a gear vendors unit.

TBH, the potential vibration issue you mentioned in your original post is what scared me off of the GV. Before you lower the transmission/change the driveline angle, you might want to take a look through this thread:http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index ... 3.100.html

That should put you on the right page where the OP found a way to 90% reduce his GV vibration. Reply # 108.

Basically, he had to methodically figure out where/how much to 'unbalance' his driveshaft to alleviate the issue... wish you luck with yours. Please let us know if you figure it out?

Thanks for the info! I was actually going to try the clamp thing mentioned in the article. Like the problem in the article, mine is speed related, getting better with the GV on , worse with it off. I want you to know I'm being VERY picky about the vibration issue. My wife has a 2010 challenger I compare my satellite to when going down the road for smoothness. My wife thinks the Satellite is smoother! She actually prefers it over the Challenger! I will drive the Challenger for a couple of days, then hop in the Satellite and back to back compare, and chase down whatever is bothering me. I could start a separate thread on the brakes on the Satellite. All Mopar, but ranging from 1970-96, but that's a whole other story! Thanks again for the info,

I had a GV in my 74 RR that had built 360 with 410s gear. Was amazing, I prob should have gone with 3:91s for better highway cruising, but even with the 4:10s I would hit 75 on highway no problem. I also had slight vibration that never cured.... this car has since been in a major accident and no longer here... :.(